Quote:
Originally Posted by desertgrandma
Is this how you see us? Your country? "mooching bully?"
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That's how a great deal of the rest of the world sees us. Why do you think most people polled in foreign nations so badly wanted Obama to change that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by desertgrandma
Yet at the same time, I don't see any other country refusing the billions of dollars sent to them annually.
Who is first to send aid to countries when disasters hit?
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No, it's NOT always the U.S.. Hell, we're not always the first to send aid when disasters hit in
our own country. (Ask Louisiana.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by desertgrandma
If 'everyone' hates us so, why are they knocking down doors to get here?
You can't swing a dead cat without hitting an illegal anywhere in Arizona.
They come here because it is still a country of opportunity, and better than where ever they are coming from, and that isn't just Mexico or Canada.
Its a country where the term "freedom of expression" allows even those here who are not citizens to protest, publicly.
Its a country which allows its citizens to work as hard as they wish, in order to succeed. That may take more than one job, and it may take working at jobs you may not like, but the opportunity is there.
It does not guarantee success, only the opportunity to succeed.
When the masses stop coming here in droves, legally and illegally, I'll believe the "mooching bully" crap.
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Most of them come here for one of two reasons: To make money; or to not get killed. (And some of the latter actually
deserve to be killed... but that's another issue.) People who come here for money, do so because they can't make it at home, so they welcome America's phenomenal opportunities in the exciting computer support, janitorial and food services industries... while trying
not to complain about the fact that America pays them far less than what is considered fair for an American citizen, and Americans by and large are perfectly happy with that individually unfair arrangement.
So we shouldn't act like we're the perfectest country their is, the Disneyland of nations. We have plenty of flaws, like using up the vast majority of the world's food and natural resources, and contributing disproportionately to global pollution. Like interfering with other governments to make them U.S.-friendly, and winding up our troops and sending them in whenever our gas-guzzling trucks are thirsty. Like feeling like the rest of the world ought to bow and scrape to us, like the rich uncle who buys the nephews the biggest toys for a Christmas he never shows up to see. And like accumulating debt we know we can't pay back, and letting our kids sweat it out. And plenty of Americans daily turn their heads and ignore all that because, after all, "I got mine," right?
No,
my country is far from perfect, and I'm well aware of it. While I work comfortably here, somewhere there's a guy in a fish suit, holding up a "Buy from Addie's Aquarium" sign in heavy traffic, choking on carbon monoxide fumes, sweating his b***s off and getting less than minimum wage to do it. And on the other side of the street is a homeless guy who hasn't eaten anything but dumpster trash in a week and wishes like hell that he could have that job.
And I don't want it to be like that. I want it to be better. Plain and simple.